Cutting-block.



J. GILBERT.

CUTTING BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1910.

Patented Dec. 24', 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. B. GILBERT.

CUTTING BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1910.

1,048, 1 47, Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

Fig.5.

Fig.6.

Fig.7.

4; Fig.5. 5

Wm/5555. VIA/727R We )46A% JOSEPH BROOKS GILBERT, F BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY OOMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW J ERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

Application filed June 18, 1910. Serial No. 567,648.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH B. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Cutting-Blocks, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawlngs indicating like parts in the several figcutting blocks in the foregoing respects and This invention relates to machines for cutting out sheet material and particularly to cutting blocks or tables for use in such machines. As herein shown, the invention is applied to a cutting out machine of the type known to the trade as the clicking machine, but it will be understood that while for frequent resurfacing. Although im-' provements have been made along these lines, the cutting blocks hitherto known and those now in general use have been far from satisfactory-and the cost of keeping, the surfaces of these blocks in proper condition for use is a considerable item, especially in machine cutting. Moreover, the frequent resurfacing required to keep the blocks in proper condition for use necessitates frequent replacement of the blocks and thereby increases further the expenses of the cutting department. v

. An object of this invention is to improve particularly to provide an improved cutting block which will havesuperior wear-resisting qualities, which will cooperate with the die and the die operating means to improve the quality of the cutting, and which will be soconstructed that its surface can be maintained in substantially one plane without resurfacing. To this end in the illustrated embodiment of the invention a cutting blockpresenting a cutting surface of a ma; terial which, while soft and yielding enough to permit thedie to make a clean cut without injury to its cutting edge, nevertheless resists strongly disintegration, is formed of interchangeable sections, the number and arrangement of which hear such a relation to the movement of the presser member of the machine that all parts of the surface of the block maybe brought successively into the area of greatest wear and thus the surface of, the block may be maintained in substantially one plane without resurfacing.

An important feature of the invention is the provision of novel means for holding the block sections against vertical and lateral displacement. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the holding means forms a part of the permanent structure of the machine, the block sections being preferably carried by interchangeable reversible sections of said permanent structure. To facilitate removal of the block sections for the purpose of interchanging or reversing them, the holding means is preferably so constructed that each section is independently held against vertical displacement but may be lifted bodily out of operative relation to the other sections after a slight horizontal movement. Furthermore the part of the holding means which prevents lateral or horizontal displacement is preferably so constructed and arranged that the abutting edges of the block sections are forced into close contact with each other, thereby insuring a substantially continuous cutting surface for all combinations of the sections, another important feature of the invention being the provision of means for forcing the sections together constructed to operate simultaneously along two dimensions of said sections.

Other features and objects of the invention, if not specifically referred to hereinafter, will be apparent upon consideration of the following description and claims, in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a part of the commercial clicking machine in which has been embodied a preferred form of the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective detail of the means for holding the block sections against displacement; Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the means for forcing the block sections together; Fig. 4 is a view showing the structure of the material of which the cutting block proper is made; Figs. 5, 6,7 and 8 are plan views showing a method of reversing and interchanging the sections to cause the entire surface of the block to be cut away substantially uniformly.

For a complete description of the construction and operation of the clicking machine, reference may be had to United States Letters Patent to Arthur Bates, 921,503, granted May 11, 1909. It will be noted upon reference to the said Letters Patent that the clicking machine comprises, among other things, a table or bed arranged to support the cutting block, a presser member arranged to swing into operative position over different parts of the cutting block about a vertical axis at one side of said block and substantially midway between its ends, and a post or plunger to which the presser member is secured and with which it turns about the aforementioned vertical axis, said post or plunger being also arranged to reciprocate in its bearings to move the presser member into and out of engagement with a die located over any part of the surface of the cutting block.

The cutting block which constitutes the subject-matter of the present invention is preferably formed in six sectionsya feature of the invention being the discovery that six interchangeable and reversible sections arranged in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings cooperate to the best advantage with a presser member arranged to swing about a vertical axis at one side of and substantially midway between the ends of an oblong block, in that different combinations of these sections may be uickly and easily formed as illustrated in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, whereby all portions of the cutting block may be brought successively into the area of the greatest wear and thus the entire surface of the block may be worn away substantially uniformly. It will be seen further that an important feature of the invention is the provision, in a machine of the illustrated type, of a cutting block formed of the aforementioned six sections arranged in two rows running lengthwise and three rows running crosswise of the block.

The cutting block proper, that is the part of the block on which the cutting is done, is preferably formed of a peculiar material which strongly resists disintegration, but at the same time cooperates with the dies in such a manner as to produce superior results in the cutting operation. The illustrated preferred material, of which the stock supporting part of the cutting block is composed, comprises superposed layers of a textile fabric impregnated with, and held together by, rubber, or other suitable material having those qualities of rubber which are especially useful for this purpose, namely its capacity for resisting disintegration and for holding together portions of the fabric which may have been severed by the cutting operations. The textile fabric may conveniently be canvas, ducking or similar material, and the successive layers are preferably pressed closely together so that the block will have considerable solidity.

To procure the best results, particularly when using comparatively light dies, especially those formed by bendingwhile cold thin ribbon steel, it has been found advisable to cushion the above described material, and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention each of the block sections is cushioned upon a correspondingly-shaped section of a material possessing considerable elasticity, for example, the material known to the trade as steam packing. To prevent too great localization of the cushioning action, a substantially solid layer is preferably provided between the material of the cutting surface and the cushioning material. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention this solid layer is preferably constituted of layers of the rubber impregnated ducking in which the rubber has been vulcanized to a higher degree of hardness than that given to the rubber in the upper layers of the cutting block material. The material which furnishes the cutting surface, hereinafter referred to as the cutting block material, is indicated at 12 in the accompanying drawings. The more highly vulcanized and harder portions of this material interposed between the cutting surface and the cushion is indicated at 14 and the cushion is indicated at 16.

To permit convenient interchange and reversal of the cutting block sections, these sections, as hereinabove suggested, are preferably carried upon correspondingly shaped sections of the permanent structure of the machine. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the supporting sections 18 are shown as arranged to slide between guides 20 extending crosswise of the cutting block, each section being provided with projections or lugs 22 arranged to interlock with corresponding projections or lugs 24 upon the guides to hold the section against vertical displacement. It will be noted that these interlocking lugs are so proportioned and arranged that a slight horizontal displacement of any one of the sections 18 will bring them out of interlocking relation to each other after which the section may be lifted bodily out of operative relation to the other sections.

In the illustrated embodiment of the in vention, which is adapted for application to clicking machines already in commercial use, the guides 20 and the lugs 24 are shown as formed upon a frame 26 which is adapted to be clamped to the bed 7 of the clicking machine by means of the bolts 9 carried by said bed and ordinarily used for clamping the wooden cutting block' to said bed. The

. lugs upon opposite ends of the sections 18 are similarly located so that when the sections are reversed the interlocking action of the lugs 22 and 24 will be the same.

To insure a continuous cutting surface and at the same time to prevent horizontal or lateral displacement means is provided for forcing the abutting edges of the sectionsinto close contact with each other and for holding them in such contact. The illustrated means comprises clamping yokes 28 mounted upon the ends of the frame 26, said yokes being carried by set screws 30 and 32 passing through depending parts 3 1- and 36 of said yokes, each yoke belng provided with lugs 38 and 40 which enter recesses in the ends of the sections 18. The lugs 38 and 40 are provided with block engaging faces which incline slightly toward each other. These faces cooperate with inclined faces in the aforementioned recesses, each section being provided with two recesses in which are oppositely inclined faces 44 and 46 respectively. When the section which is numbered 6 in Fig. 1 is in the position shown in said figure, the inclined face 46 will co6per ate with the lug 38 and the inclined face 4 1 of the section numbered 3 will cooperate .with the lug 40, thus tending to force these .two sections toward each other'in a direction extending crosswise of the block at the same time they are forced toward the intermediate sections 2 and 5' by the pressure of the clamp members lengthwise of the block. It will be understood that the clamping yokes are moved toward each other by turning the set screws 30 and 32. Y

the succeeding figures may be fo The presser member 8 is so dimensioned and so located with respect to the cutting block that substantially the whole surface of the cutting block may be used for cutting out purposes. In practice, however, the operator rarely uses the surface close up to the edge of the block, and the used area will therefore lie within the edges of the block and bear a relation to the total surface area of the block which may be illustrated, as in Fig. 5 of the drawings, as bounded by an, ir regular line, the used area within this line being cross-hatched so that its ositions in flowed.

As hereinabove pointed out, Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive illustrate a method of-reversing and interchanging the block sections to cause the entire surface of the block to be cut away substantially uniformly. When the area within the irregular line in Fig. 5

'has been used until it begins to be distinguished considerably from the unused portions'of the block, the sections may bead- V j'usted into the positions shown in Fig. 6. ave

ing the used surfaces in the sections to the outside. After the area within the irregular line in Fig. 6 has been used to the desired extend a second adjustment of the sections may be made into the positions shown in Fig. 7 In this figure the middle sections have been moved to the ends of the block and located upon diagonally opposite corners, and two of the end sections, 1 and 6, have been moved to the middle of the block,- the other end sect-ions being shifted across the block to bring a small unused portion of their surfaces into the region of greatest wear. It will be noted that each of the sections 3 and 4 will still have a small corner which has not been operated upon but with the next adjustment of the sections, shown in Fig. 8, the sections 3 and 4 will be reversed, thus bringing these unused portions into the area of greater wear. ments shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 have therefore brought into the area of greatest wear all of the surfaces of each of the sections. As the material hereinabove described does not wear away very rapidly owing to its peculiar structure and composition, the successive adjustments of the sections into different relations to each other, as shown in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, serves to keep the surface of the cutting block substantially in one plane and thus to insure superior cutting results.

It will be understood that many of the advantages of this invention can be obtained with a cutting block comprising four or even eight sections. As above pointed out, however, the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises six sections since it has been found that six sect-ions cooperate to the best advantage with the other elements of a machine of the clicking press type. One of the advantages of employing with the clicking machine a cutting block comprising six sections is that the middle sect-ions, upon which by far the greatest amount of cutting is done, may be moved to locations in the block where very little cutting is done, and thus the sections which would ordinarily be little used may be brought easily and quickly into the area of greatest wear and the whole surface of the cutting block may thus be utilized ,to the best advantage.

The provision of the solid layer 14 be tween the cutting block material and. the cushion offers many advantages not hereinabove enumerated. For example, this layer may be made of a distinctive color which will enable the operator to determine readily when he has usedup the cuttin block material. Moreover the cushion 1 is preferably a part ofthe permanent struetuleof the machine and the provision of a solid layer 14 which is a part of the material. to

The three adjustbe removed from the cushion, permits the" more ready removal of the material to be re tions and fixed placed, and at the same time protects the cushion from uneven wear and also from being cut by the dies.

As hereinabove pointed out the cooperating faces upon the lugs 38 and 40 which enter recesses in the sections 18 are so arranged that the clamping yokes exert pressure along.

two dimensions of the block. It will be observed further upon an inspection of Fig. 2 that the inclination of the faces 44 and 46 is such that endwise pressure of the yokes 28 will cause .a downward pressure upon the end sections. The clamping yokes28 thus exert pressure upon the block along three dimensions thereof.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-of the United States is 1. A bed for dying out machines comprising a plurality of interchangeable and reversible sections of the permanent structure of the machine, each section carrying a removable section of cutting block material and being arranged with respect to the other sections to cause said material to present a continuous surface.

2. A bed for dying out machines comprising a plurality of interchangeable and reversible sections of the permanent structure of the machine constructed and arranged to interlock with the machine frame, each section carrying a removable section of cutting block material and being arranged with respect to the other sections-to cause said material to present a continuous surface.

3. A cutting block for dying out machines comprising a plurality of abutting sections and means for normally locking the sections against vertical movement constructed to permit such movement of any section after a slight lateral movement of said section. I

4. A cutting block comprising a plurality of abutting sections, means for locking the sections against vertical movement constructed to permit such movement of any section. after a horizontal movement less than the correspondingly directed dimension of the section, and means for preventing horizontal movement of the-sections.

5. A cutting block comprising a plurality of sections, and means located upon opposite sides of each section for holding the sections against vertical movement con; structed to permit such movement for purposes of removal after a lateral movement of the section to be removed less thanthe correspondingly directed dimension of saidsection.

6. A cutting block for dying out machines comprising a plurality f like secmeans engaglng opposite sides of each section to hold it against vertical movement constructed to permit such movement for purposes of removal after a said means being also constructed to permit vertical movement of each section after a horizontal movement less than the correspondingly directed dimension of the section.

8. A cutting block comprising a plurality of interchangeable and reversible abutting sections, means for locking the sections against vertical movement constructed to confine the sections in rows extending across the block while permitting horizontal movement along said rows and means acting upon the ends of the block for locking said sections against horizontal movement. L

9. An oblong cutting block comprising a plurality of interchangeable and reversible sections arranged in two rows running lengthwise of the block and in a greater number of rows running crosswise of the block, means for confining said sections against vertical displacement constructed to permit horizontal movement along the rows and means for confining said sections against horizontal displacement acting upon the ends of the block.

10. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination, an oblong sectional block and a presser member having a positioning movement about a vertical axis at one side of and midway between the ends of said block, said block comprising two rows of interchanageable and reversible abutting sections running lengthwise and three rows of said sections running crosswise, the length of said block being substantially twice its width.- I

11. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination, an oblong cutting block, a presser member arranged to turn about a vertical axis upon the side of the block remote from the operator and midway between the ends of said block, said block comprising a plurality of interchange. able and reversible sections so constructed and arranged that all parts of the surface of the block may be brought in succession into the area of greatest wear.

12. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination, an oblong block, a presser member arranged to turn about a vertical axis on the side of the block remote from the operator and midway between the ends of said block, said block comprising six sections confined in three rows extending across the block from front to back and means for confining said sections against vertical movement constructed to permit endwise movement of the sections lengthwise of the'rows into and out of interlocksaid layer ing relation with said confining means.

13. A cutting vblock comprising a layer of flexible cutting block material, a cushion beneath said'layer of cutting block materialv and a layer of hard material arranged between said cutting block material and said cushion.

14. A cuttin .block comprising a layer of cutting bloc material and a cushion arranged beneath said cutting block material,

of cutting block material comprising superposed layers of textile fabric impregnated with and held-together by rub- 15. A cutting block comprising super- 7 canized to a higher degree of hardness than the rubber in t e upper layers and a cushion arranged beneath said superposed layers of textile fabric.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing wltnesses.

JosEPH BROOKS GILBERT.

Witn esses:

H. DORSEY SPENCER, EMILE H. TARmvnL. 

